In my opinion this is Rusty Byant's most funky greasey albums he recorded for Prestige and producer Bob Porter. Many people probably haven't heard of Rusty Bryant especially if you're under the age of 50 because he never became a household name like Lester Young or John Coltrane probably because unlike those guys Rusty never tried to push the music's envelope but that isn't to diminish his abilities. If I had to label Rusty's style I'd put him more in the blues shouters category with guys like Pee Wee Ellis and Hank Crawford. His music is more about the feeling and the groove.

In my opinion this album has influenced scores of bands performing now such as the Greyboy Allstars, The New Master Sounds and Medeski, Martin and Wood.

My favorite track is the title track The Fire Eater. It's funk at its best, simple grooving and memorable. The band is Idris Muhammad on drums one of the funkiest drummers of all time! Bill Mason and Leon Spencer Jr split the organ duties, and Wilbert Longmire on guitar. This album is out of print as an individual album on cd but you can get it on the Prestige compilation album Legends of Acid Jazz "Rusty Bryant" volume 2. Which also contains the sister album to this "WildFire" which in my opinion is also a killer disc. Find it before this music disappears forever.